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Tahir Raj Bhasin's Honour-Killing Drama 'Saale Aashiq' Deemed 'Too Controversial' To Release By OTT Platforms
Directed by Siddharth-Garima, 'Saale Aashiq' was conceptualised as a theatrical film, but it ended up having a direct-to-satellite premiere after even the streamers were scared to touch the film
Filmmaker duo Siddharth-Garima describes mounting their latest honour-killing drama Saale Aashiq as a project where they felt like "warriors". From the inception of the idea 10 years ago, producers calling their subject "too bold" and COVID-19 delaying the production to the censor board coming down heavily on the movie and streaming platforms refusing to buy it, the filmmakers say that they weren't ready for the numerous battles they faced.
"Little did we know that shooting the film in the extreme heat of Jabalpur would be the easier part; the tougher thing was releasing the movie. It has been the most frustrating experience," Garima tells THR India.
Starring Tahir Raj Bhasin and Mithila Palkar, Saale Aashiq was conceptualised as a theatrical film pre-COVID, but post-pandemic market dynamics indicated that the title would find a home on streaming. But the film, surprisingly, skipped even that and had a direct premiere on a satellite channel last weekend.
Saale Aashiq, billed as an "angry take" on honour killings, is backed by Sony Pictures Networks India.
Siddharth tells THR India that navigating the streaming platforms was a "bigger challenge" than the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) because the self-censorship of OTTs has "gone up after some of the shows landed in trouble."
"They are more scared than the censor board. So we were told by the streaming platforms that the subject was too controversial for them to even touch," he claims.
Garima says that the duo went to all the "usual" streaming platforms, only to be turned down by everyone, despite having popular names headlining the project. Even SonyLIV, part of the Sony group, couldn't take the film up; the makers were informed that the streamer was focusing more on original series and buying dubbed movies, especially Malayalam-language ones.
"We cast Tahir and Mithila in 2021, and meant to shoot it in 2022; both of them had a great market in the streaming space. Once the film was complete in the beginning of 2024, the OTT platforms were looking for even bigger stars. We had the most authentic casting, but it wasn't enough for them. They still want to chase bigger stars irrespective of the content," she says.
Because the film was meant to be theatrical, the duo says they had received an A certificate with some cuts from the CBFC—including the removal of a Shiv Mantra during a chase sequence—but a satellite release on Sony Max meant taming down the movie further to be able to get a U/A certificate for television.
"We tried saving what we could," Garima sighs, as Siddharth adds that a satellite channel was at least "still brave enough" to take the film up.
"The final film is about 90 percent of what we originally envisaged. The 10 percent 'compromise' had to be done but hopefully, there will be a day when the 'A' version will be available on some OTT platform," Garima says, revealing that Sony Pictures is in talks with newer OTT platforms now.
"It is all about the vision and courage now, because we know it is not about the money," she adds.
Siddharth says their learning from Saale Aashiq is that the streaming platforms, more than "enabling newer voices", have "killed" them.
"They have disabled even the courageous producers. Now even the producers feel that first they should sell the film to the streamer and be safe. This was never the case with our industry earlier," he concludes.